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Pro Georgia Vol. 26 New Paprocki.Indd Pro Georgia, 2016, t. 26, s. 83-115 83 EARLY PERIOD OF ARAB OCCUPATION OF EASTERN GEORGIA by Pavle Chanturishvili Tbilisi Preface The conquest of Eastern Georgia by the Arabs in the 40s-50s of the 7th century cannot be discussed without reviewing the previous history of East- ern Georgia. It should be interesting whether this territory was independent or not at the time of the Arab conquest and if it was not - which foreign kingdom(s) or empire(s) dominated it and what social and political climate was there just before Arab invasion in Eastern Georgia. Byzantium proved to be an ultimate winner of the series of wars between Byzantium and Iran that lasted for more than one century. In spite of the fact that in V-VI centuries Iran established its direct con- trol over the Georgian kingdom of Kartli and abolished monarchy in Iberia n the 20-ies of the VI century, though, eventually, Eastern Geor- gia (former Kingdom of Iberia) as well as Western Georgia remained under Byzantium’s control. These territories were ruled by Erismtavari (governor=Patricius=Patrikios patrikiosi) who was loyal to Byzan- tium and carried out pro-Byzantium policy just before the Arab invasion. By the period of Arab conquest the Patricius of Kartli was Stephen II (Stepanoz II) of Iberia, the son of Adarnase I of Iberia. Adarnase assisted the Byzantine-Khazar army with the siege of Tbilisi in 628 and was made a ruler of Kartli by the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius.1 Mariam Lortkipanidze notes: ,,Just before the Arab invasion West Georgia as well as East Georgia were under political infl uence of Eastern Roman Empire but they were differently infl uenced by Byzantium. West- ern Georgia was much more connected to Byzantium and experienced its infl uence more than Eastern Georgia.’’2 That is the key reason why we 1 А. А. Богверадзе. Очерки Истории Грузии. Восстановление государственной власти в Картли. 170. 2 M. Lortkipanidze. The Character of the Arab Rule in Georgia, 2 (m. lorTqi- faniZe. arabTa mflobelobis xasiaTi saqarTveloSi). 84 PAVLE CHANTURISHVILI see only Greek coins on the territory of Western Georgia and both Greek and Persian coins (almost with a same intensity) on the territory of East Georgia from the above-mentioned period.3 David Muskhelishvili suggests that for the fi rst time the Arabs ap- peared in Eastern Georgia in the 640s. He says that the fi rst Arab troops were only raiding troops, who left the Caucasus soon. The same opin- ion is expressed by Mariam Lortkipanidze4, Zaza Abashidze5 and S.Dzimistarishvili6. Unlike Ivane Javakhishvili, who wrote that Habib ibn Maslama came to Kartli in 643-6447 Muskhelishvili wrote that the Arabs headed by Habib ibn Maslama gained a strong foothold in Kartli only in 654/5 and introduced ,,Charter of Imminity’’ (,,Datsvis Sigeli’’) to Eastern Georgians.8 Simon Janashia agrees with Muskhelishvili.He also suggests that Habib ibn Maslama came to Kartli only in 654/5.9 This idea is confi rmed by Tabari (838-923), who in his well-known book ‘’Tarikh The History of Prophets,, ﺗﺎﺭﻳﺦ ﺍﻟﺮﺳﻞ ﻭ ﺍﻟﻤﻠﻮﻙ - ’’al-Rusul wa al-Muluq and Kings’’ says that in the 22nd year of Hijra (644): ﻭﺟﻪ ﺳﺮﺍﻗﺔ ﺑﻌﺪ ﺫﻟﻚ ﺑﻜﻴﺮ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﻭ ﺣﺒﻴﺐ ﺑﻦ ﻣﺴﻠﻤﺔ ﻭ ﺣﺬﻳﻔﺔ ﺑﻦ ﺍﺳﻴﺪ ﻭ ﺳﻠﻤﺎﻥ ﺑﻦ ﺭﺑﻴﻌﺔ ﺍﻟﻰ ﺍﻫﻞ ﺗﻠﻚ ﺍﻟﺠﺒﺎﻝ ﺍﻟﻤﺤﻴﻄﺔ ﺑﺎ ِﺭﻣﻴﻨﻴﺎ ﻓﻮﺟﻪ ﺑﻜﻴﺮﺍ ﺍﻟﻰ ﻣﻮﻗﺎﻥ ﻭ ﻭﺟﻪ ﺣﺒﻴﺒﺎ ﺍﻟﻰ ﺗﻔﻠﻴﺲ ﻭ ﺣﺬﻳﻔﺔ ﺑﻦ ﺍﺳﻴﺪ ﺍﻟﻰ ﻣﻦ ﺑﺠﺒﺎﻝ ﺍﻻﻥ ﻭ ﺳﻠﻤﺎﻥ ﺑﻦ ﺭﺑﻴﻌﺔ ﺍﻟﻰ ﺍﻟﻮﺟﻪ ﺍﻻﺧﺮ ﻭ ﻛﺘﺐ ﺳﺮﺍﻗﺔ ﺑﺎﻟﻔﺘﺢ... ﻣﺎﺕ ﺳﺮﺍﻗﺔ ﻭ ﺍﺳﺘﺨﻠﻒ ﻋﺒﺪ ﺍﻟﺮﺣﻤﺎﻥ ﺑﻦ ﺭﺑﻴﻌﺔ ﻭ ﻗﺪ ﻣﻀﻰ ﺍﻭﻟﺌﻚ ﺍﻟﻘﻮﺍﺩ ﺍﻟﺬﻳﻦ ﺑﻌﺜﻬﻢ ﺳﺮﺍﻗﺔ ﻓﻠﻢ ﻳﻔﺘﺢ ﺍﺣﺪ ﻣﻨﻬﻢ ﻣﺎ ﻭﺟﻪ ﻟﻪ ﺍﻻ ﺑﻜﻴﺮ ,,After conquering Azerbaijan Suraqa sent Buqair ibn ‘Abd Allah, Ha- bib ibn Maslama, Hudhaifah ibn-Usaid and Salman ibn Rabi’ah against the people living in the mountains bordering with Armenia. And sent Bu- 3 D. Muskhelishvili. The History of Georigia From IV to XIII Century, Volume 2, 121 (d. musxeliSvili. saqarTvelos istoria IV saukunidan XIII saukunemde). 4 M. Lortkipanidze. The Establishment of the Arab Caliphate’s Domination in Kartli. The Georgian-Arab Relationships in the VII-VIII Centuries, 172 (m. lorTqifaniZe. arab- Ta saxalifos gavlenis damyareba qarTlSi. qarTul-arabuli urTier- Tobebi VII-VIII saukuneebSi). 5 Z. Abashidze. Georgia and the Georgians. Georgia in VII-VIII Centuries, 98 (z. abaSiZe. saqarTvelo da qarTvelebi. saqarTvelo VII-VIII saukuneebSi. araboba). 6 S. Dzimistarishvili. The Arabs in Georgia, 10 (s. ZimistariSvili. arabebi saqarTveloSi). 7 Ivane Javakhishvili. Invasion of the Arabs and Their Rule in the First Two Centuries, 73 (iv. javaxiSvili. Aarabebis Semoseva da maTi batonoba pirvel or saukuneSi). 8 D. Muskhelishvili. The History of Georigia. From IV to XIII Century, Volume 2, 125-126 (d. musxeliSvili. saqarTvelos istoria. IV saukunidan XIII saukunemde). 9 S. Janashia. The Arab Rule in Georgia, 357-365 (s. janaSia. araboba saqarT- veloSi). EARLY PERIOD OF ARAB OCCUPATION OF EASTERN GEORGIA 85 qair to Mokan and Habib ibn Maslama in Tbilisi, Hudhaifah ibn-Usaid against those, who lived in the mountains of Alans, Salman ibn Rabiah in another direction and wrote to them to conquer... Suraka died and ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Rabiah replaced him. The commanders sent by Suraka came back, none of them conquered the lands except Buqair.’’10 As we see, the fi rst raiding campaign of Arabs did not bring any results for them11, therefore after a few years they renewed the expedition under Habib ibn Maslama’s leadership. But who was Habib ibn Maslama? Ac- cording to the encyclopedia of Islam, Habib ibn Maslama was Mu’awiya ibn Abi Sufyan’s military commander, who was born in Mecca in 617 in a family belonging to the Qurayshi clan Fihr. Before coming to Georgia he took part in the conquest of Syria and distinguished himself as a good soldier in the battles with Byzantium. According to the encyclopedia of Islam, ,,By order of Mu’awiya, he conquered Armenia in 642; In the fol- lowing years he was given the governorship of Northern Syria and fought against the Mardaites(al-Jarajimah) and the Byzantines. At Siffi n (657) he commanded the left wing of the Syrian army and then, served as a representative of Muawiya in the negotiations with ‘Ali’’12 Mariam Lortkipanidze, who refers to Janashia, also notes that al- though Arabs came to the former Kingdom of Iberia in the 640s, they were more likely raiding troops.13 Unlike other scholars, Beniamin Silagadze took Javakhishvili’s side. Silagadze was writing that collation of Armenian sources helped him to suggest that ,,Charter of Immunity’’ should have been granted to Georgians by Habib ibn Maslama before 654/5 and Arabian sources allegedly support this opinion and sign directly that this Charter was granted to Georgians in the summer period of 64514. Simon Janashia describes in detail interesting historical events in the Caucasus before the Arab invasion: the author notes that Kartli and Armenia were under Byzantium control before Arab invasion. In 652 the governor of Armenia Theodoros Rshtuni turned against Greeks and subordinated Arme- 10 E. Sikharulidze. About Some Issues of the Arab’s First Millitary Compaigns in Georgia, 186 (e. sixaruliZe. saqarTveloSi arabTa pirvel laSqrobaTa zogierTi sakiTxisaTvis). 11 B. Silagadze. The Arab Rule in Georgia, 38 (b. silagaZe. arabTa batonoba saqarTveloSi). 12 The Encyclopedia of Islam. New edition. Edited by B. Lewis, V. L. Menage, Ch. Pellat and J. Schacht Volume III, 12 13 M. Lortkipanidze. The Character of the Arab Command in Georgia, 73 (m. lorTqi- faniZe. arabTa mflobelobis xasiaTi saqarTveloSi). 14 B. Silagadze. For the Dating of Habib ibn Maslama’s “Charter of Immunity’’, 84 (b. s i - lagaZe. habib ibn maslamas dacvis sigelis daTariRebisaTvis). 86 PAVLE CHANTURISHVILI nia to the Arabs. Janashia also refers to old Armenian bishop and historian Sebeos, who wrote that Alvanian, Georgian and Siunik (Sivnieti) governors supported Theodoros Rshtuni. Probably Emperor Constans II (Konstanti- nos Pogonatos) - ,,Constantine the Bearded’’ who governed the empire in 641-668 (and not the Emperor Constantine III who governed only for four months) subordinated Armenia once more and pitched camp in the city of Dvin. He sent punitive forces to the allies of Armenia and disunited their union. Albanians and Sivnians, who did not surrender, were punished and ravaged by Greeks but the Georgians, who did not offer any resistance to Greeks, avoided their revenge,15 Janashia refers to another Armenian chroni- cler – John Draskhanakertel - whose records confi rm Sebeos’ information.16 The Arabs made a distinction between the people who subjugated to from the people who were subordinated by force ﺍﺻﻠﺤﺎﺡﻝﺹ them voluntarily -They also differentiated subjugated peoples from the point of rev ﻋﻨﻮﺓ . enue taxes, not only by the religious side.17 In the 30s and 50s of the 7th century they conquered vast lands and territories. As the concept of a nation-state had not been formulated by that historical period of man- kind, the Arabs perceived different peoples as religious communities and presented relatively similar demands to them. We should suppose that the case was same with respect to Kartli. It is diffi cult to imagine that terms of the treaty for the Georgians had been radically different from the other contracts that had been already drawn on the territory of Syria-Palestine, Egypt and Iran. This form of treatise was not the novelty introduced by the Arabs. Treatise like that had about 3000 years history in the Middle East. ,,Charter of Imminiity’’ had already had a long history in the Per- sian and Romano-Byzantium realms with regards of subjugated peoples. In sum, these treatise implied participation of conquered and subjugated peoples in Roman wars in exchange for keeping their lives and property untouched.
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